LEXINGTON, Ky. - Playing the second highest-ranked team in the NCAA era, the Lipscomb Lady Bisons basketball team was unable to find any rhythm and fell to No. 7 Kentucky 116-49 on Thursday in Lexington, Ky.

Lipscomb struggled with ball control against a stifling Lady Wildcat defense that forced 32 Lady Bisons turnovers leading to 40 points for UK.

“I told the team, when you watch the game on tape tomorrow, it is not going to seem nearly as fast as when you were playing it,” Lipscomb head coach Greg Brown said. “That’s what Kentucky does, they mentally drain you.

“I don’t think it’s as much physically as it is mentally draining. With a bunch of freshman that aren’t used to that, it’s difficult. It’s going to be difficult for anyone in the SEC as well. They can put waves of pressure on you and then force those turnovers.”

After DeNesha Stallworth scored on a jumper to give Kentucky the lead, Sara Bliss drained a 3-point shot at the 18:35 mark to give the Lady Bisons the only lead of the night at 3-2.

From there the seventh-ranked Wildcats flexed their muscles and went on a 24-4 run to jump out to a 26-7 advantage with 11:16 remaining in the half.

After Stallworth sunk a free throw, Florida transfer Chandler Cooper scored eight of the next 10 points for Lipscomb.

Cooper made a pair at the charity stripe and then hit two 3-point buckets with a Maya Dillard jumper sandwiched in between to cut the deficit to 17.

Kentucky closed the half strong and led 57-29 into the intermission.

The Lady Bisons were outscored 59-20 in the second period as Kentucky torched the nets, shooting 59 percent from the field in the half and over 52 percent for the game while making 7-of-15 three’s.

Lipscomb drops to 0-4 after shooting 26 percent from the field behind 16-of-56 shooting. With the win, the Wildcats improve to a perfect 5-0.

“We had some specific process goals coming into tonight,” Brown said. “The best thing is, Kentucky is not in the Atlantic Sun. What we have to do is get a couple players eligible, get our transfers ready to go and take some things out of this game.

“The best thing is I have their attention now. The little things that you ignore in practice are magnified here against elite athletes. The best thing for us is to take this back and prepare for Tennessee State and Murray State as we go along. It’s a learning process and I think we have their attention a little bit right now.”

Cooper scored 12 of her team-leading 15 points in the first half. She finished the game 4-of-14 shooting with three from beyond the arc in just her second game of the season.

“She’s getting there,” Brown said. “ She was just eligible last week and she was out early in the season with some injuries, so she’ll get there. We are a blending team right now, and like I said we have one more transfer to be eligible after exams, so we will continue to go through that. Kentucky just makes you pay for your weaknesses.”

After reaching a double-double in every game this season, Ashley Southern came up just short on Thursday, finishing the game with nine points and eight boards.

The 116 point effort by UK was the first time in Brown’s era that Lipscomb has allowed an opponent to eclipse the century mark.

“Obviously Kentucky is an excellent team,” Brown said. “They are going to be a very, very good SEC team. They are going to be a very, very good nationally-ranked team. They are put together very well.”

The Lady Bisons return to the court on Tuesday Nov. 26 when they travel to cross-town foe Tennessee State for a 6 p.m. tip-off.